FuzzFace2

Nice looking floor. When I see them like that I wish I had the money to go with wood and not the rib metal. Dave ----

Man you are starting to make me look bad on not working on my truck I got to ask why do you want to remove that cross member? The only thing I think is different between them is the 460 ones with the notch for the oil filter no? I did pull the 300 six frame stands off the parts truck frame before it went to it's new home up north. Dave ----

Brad, you are the man It has been a few years since I pulled them from the parts truck. Then making the long bed a short bed and moving that 2nd cross member back some. It also shows how that 2nd CM had a screw thru it. Now if we had a picture of a short bed shields we would have all of them in one place for easy look up. Thank you for the picture Dave ----

Thanks for the information it is better then nothing. Man you went crazy on that thing and you got to do what you got to do to keep the peace so you have a place to work inside. Being the bed is gone, a day short!, you cant get the other info I was looking for on the long bed shields NP. On the air bags as Gary said most of the time they were slipped inside the stock spring. Wonder if they were added to level the truck? If it had a plow then I would say that is why they were added. As for keeping parts on the parts truck till needed I did the same thing. Right up to where it was taking up too much room. Now that I am down to little things it is getting ruff on how things go back together, 3+ years don't help either. Thanks Dave ----

Cory, I did a longer post over on the other forum. [delete]Still have that style side to get a picture or 2 from? Remember I am using the long bed style side floor and trying to see if I can use the shields from it if I can remember how they went.[/delete] I thank you for posting the pictures as we get to see how they were done on a flare side, mine were long gone when I got my truck. Dave ----

Steve, on the short bed do you remember if that shield was 1 piece or 2 from there on back? The picture does help as it shows me how the front of the shield was screwed to the cross member. I was thinking it went over the CM and screwed to the front side not the back side. I also don't have that first cross member with the holes, it got cut off to shorten the floor but I can and will drill new holes as needed. That Bronco one I cant see fitting a PU but thanks for posting so I can see how it was done. Thanks Dave ----

I know this will be hard for some because of the weather but here goes. I would like to see pictures of the heat shields that protect the bed floor from heat from the exh system. I would like to see all the different bed styles: style side long & short bed and the flare side. My flare side did not have any when I got the truck. My parts truck a style side long bed had them, it is 2 parts a short & a long shield. I was trying to install them on my flare side as it uses the style side long bed floor cut shorter. I think I know how the rear shorter one goes as the holes look to line up but I have to flatten 1 corner to fit part way under the rear tank cross member. But I don't quite see how the longer front one should fit. I know I will need to cut it shorter because I shorten the floor but I forgot how it was installed on the uncut long bed floor. Thanks for any help you can give. Dave ----

At times it feels like a slow waltz 1 step forward and 2 steps back I should get my butt out to the garage, fire up the heater and get something done even if is just to look at it. Dave ----

Cory, You got a lot done in a short time. Can you tell me how far in from the outside edge that white center goes in on the back panel? And for anyone, would you know if that same center color goes in the same distance on a flare side or farther as the box goes to that first rib. My flare was painted a few times and then flat black and could not tell. Parts truck being a style side and also repainted I don't want to go by it when I lay out that color and tape lines. Thanks Dave ----

I wonder if that number is a ID number that manf. put on parts? Look at door or kick panels and the number on the back that people call a "parts number" is a manf. ID number. I never looked that close at the floors in my project truck before coating with bed liner for any numbers. Maybe I can look over the parts truck to see if I find anything. Dave ----

I think my truck hates me I keep the gas cans in my garage, cooler in there than the tractor shed, and the 5 gal can is heavy so open the garage door and backed my DD up to it so did not need to carry the can far. When walking in thru the garage door I see a puddle of anti freeze under the truck Got out the drop light and creeper. Green on the new Y pipe and up above that on the starter? Looking farther up I see a trail down the side of the block and what does it lead me to ........... one of them rubber repair casting plugs that use a nut that flares out the rubber to seal it to the block. I remember seeing it when I had the manifolds off and was well it's not broken don't fix it! So got out the tools and was able to tighten the nut a little more, dried the area and fingers crossed it will hold. If it keeps dripping I will replace it with a steel or brass one with a little sealer. I think if I peel back the inner fender well I think I can use a long extension & socket to drive the plug in. The other day I saw some members under hood pictures and saw I had the hood release cable run the wrong way so fixed that. Being up at 1am for work I called it quits for the day and plan to get some work done Saturday and/or Sunday. Dave ----

Floors & rockers are not that hard to replace Now on the cutting of the frame. You know the older Fords had a long bed flare side. You can tell them because they have 3 stake pockets on each side. 1 front & rear corners and 1 in the center. If you have a bed and a half, 2 front cross members for the running board mounts and 4 running boards I think this could be done pretty easily. Then again I have been told I'm "just not right" LOL Dave ----

I think it depends on how you want to pull it all apart and put it back together. I had 2 trucks, parts & project. The project I pulled each fender with the inner liner then the radiator support, I was not looking to reuse them at that point. The parts truck I pulled the full nose, fender w/liners bolted to the radiator support. I was looking to use this set up and figured with the fenders still bolted to the support would make it easier to line up when installing it back on the project truck. Here you can see the full nose as pulled from the parts truck and the project truck fenders sitting to the left, the support is behind the far fender / nose. Now after I got the nose back on the project truck and lined up I pulled each fender to weld up molding holes, do body work where the holes where and to paint the insides the project trucks color. Doing it this way I was thinking when I install after painting it would take less fussing to line up. I still need to install the hood so I am sure I will need to do a little more lining up. Dave ----

I just did the LED bulbs in my cluster and before putting the bulb sockets back in I hit them with eraser. It did turn the eraser black but did not look like it did anything to the copper. Then I would say it did not because I had to wiggle the sockets to make better contact for them to work. If there is a next time I will be using 600 grit sand paper as I know they will be clean then. I wonder if that cluster plug is not making a good connection? Then again he had to remove the gauge nuts so maybe that is the issue? Dave ----

Sorry I just saw this and it is to late to get before shots. To tell the truth the reason I did the LED's is because I think only 2 or 3 of the 5 cluster lights worked and did not think they were all that bright anyway. Now I did not install new bulbs when I did the work the first time. So if I had to pull the cluster again I was going LED's. Here is what green LED's with the covers still installed. I did not get any of the white warning lights but with out the colored lenses they are bright. Dave ----

A few weeks ago I was in the truck when it was darkish and saw half the dash lights did not work. When I rebuilt the cluster I did not replace the bulbs, just cleaned them. Also the colored covers were like new so I left them in at that time. So I ordered LED bulbs, pulled the cluster last weekend and replaced all the bulbs. Today was install time and to make sure worked. Some of the bulbs needed to be turned 180* before they would work. I also replaced the warning lights across the top with LED's too. I had to jump out the sensors to make sure they worked or needed to be turned also. The only one I did not jump out was the brake light. I did not know what it was till I was going in the house. Then again I will know if the brakes don't work and don't need a light to tell me. What bulb colors did I use you ask? Green for the gauges and white for the warning lights. Garage lights off but still bright out at 5:45pm and facing the windows but you can see the gauges. Then took a picture when it was a little more dark out. I left the colored cover in as I did not want to take the cluster all apart to remove them. After the cluster was back in and tested in day light I pulled the truck out of the garage and did a Bill Murray cleaning like in Caddy Shack, back pack blower and all! There was a lot of body filler dust all over, even on top of the lights! It will take a lot more cleaning before I can paint in there. It would be nice to get my sons boxes from moving out and the 1 car I have in there with 4 blown out tires for the next cleaning I don't see that happening but I do see Bill Murray coming back out again LOL Before backing the truck back in I checked how the HVAC worked as I remembered something not right with it. When on MAX AC the air comes out the defrost. If on Normal AC it comes out the dash vents. The rest work as should when in that position of vents / floor / mix / defrost. This works off the vacuum system of the switch, the temp side works as should and that is cable. I should have jumped the AC pressure switch and checked for power to the AC compressor, maybe next time? Oh I also bolted the jack bracket to the right fender and the hood hinges on. I need to go thru all the parts a have and start putting them together that I have 2 of, like wiper arms, wiper motors & linkage to name a few. Dave ----

It sure does. I was out there for most of the day, yes I could have started earlier, and it was not till I was posting that I said "man I did not get a lot done for the time in the garage". The cutting of the 3 AC bracket bolts and still to long so needing to grind them down more and redo the threaded ends eats up time. Then wire brushing the hinges & hood springs for painting tanks time. Then add looking thru 6 bins of parts, looking on top of my work shop (needed to pull out the ladder) and then going thru the work shop for the hood cable all took time. So I guess I did get a lot done LOL Dave ---- I got hit with lazyazzetsis today:nabble_smiley_unhappy: Never made it out to the garage today but did hit the mail box. I ordered some LED's for the gauge cluster because the other light before I came in I hooked the battery up and turned the lights off and man was the cluster dark! I guess I should have gone with new bulbs and not just clean the outs sides off. I went with green bulbs as I like that color. Also the HVAC control(it was pretty bright), light & wiper light and the radio are factory green and want it all to match. I did not think going with the blue, I do like that color, or red would go to good with the other green lights. We just got hit with a cold spell 60* yesterday with a high of 34* tomorrow. It will be pretty cold in the garage if I make it out there so we will see. Dave ----

I hear you brother! I am in that same boat and at times I think I will never see the end LOL At least you got to drive yours. Other than a bad short test drive in 2015 I have not. Dave ----

I did not go thru all 6 pages but ......... I found the uses map but for the life of me I could not figure out how to add "my pin" to the map. Anything I found said I needed to make a map then I could add to it? I don't want or need a map I just wanted to add "me" to your map. So for this vary simple person can you spell it out for me? Thanks Dave ----

It sure does. I was out there for most of the day, yes I could have started earlier, and it was not till I was posting that I said "man I did not get a lot done for the time in the garage". The cutting of the 3 AC bracket bolts and still to long so needing to grind them down more and redo the threaded ends eats up time. Then wire brushing the hinges & hood springs for painting tanks time. Then add looking thru 6 bins of parts, looking on top of my work shop (needed to pull out the ladder) and then going thru the work shop for the hood cable all took time. So I guess I did get a lot done LOL Dave ----

Painted the AC brackets then hit the hard ware store for bolts and propane for the shop heater as it ran out just before I started to paint. Only ones they had were too long so had to cut them down and rework the threaded ends. Also had to make a spacer to fit between the AC bracket and the power steering bracket. I found an old ear from a ALT that I cut and filed to fit. Got the bracket bolted up and ready for the compressor when I get it. With that done I moved on to wire brush cleaning of the hood hinges & springs and got them painted. Got the springs installed but the hinge bolts were rusty so had to soak them. I then went looking for the hood release cable. I think I should of had 2, cant remember if the parts truck had one. After looking for half hour I found only 1 and got it installed. When I stood back to look over the truck I saw I did not pull and paint the air filter bracket so pulled it and hit with paint. With the air filter off I adjusted the choke so it would close when cold as it was open about half way. I also raised the fast idle speed a little as it was not working but could of been from choke not closing, time will tell. After dinner I cleaned the bolts for the hinges and the jack bracket for the fender and hit them with paint. Hope to get them installed tomorrow. In looking for the hood cable I pulled out the 2 sets of running boards I have. I will look them over and get the bolts I have together to see what I have to get together before painting. The plan is to get the bed painted as soon as I can and need to get all that prepped for paint. When looking for the hood cable I found the bed heat shields from the long bed parts truck. Along with installing the hinges I want to try again on fitting them to the bed. When at the hard wear store I picked up bolts for the bumpers as I have a custom touch I want to do to them and my look into starting that. Little by little it is getting done. Dave ----

Not "wrong" - just a consideration: a smaller pulley will spin faster, but you're actually asking the belt to transfer MORE power from the engine to the compressor; and at a lower RPM (which means more torque/more tension in the belt). For it to do that, the belt must REALLY stick to the pulley... Since the wrap angle is set by the geometry of the accessories and can't be increase by idlers, that means more force from the belt against the pulley (more belt-tension) which must be borne by the compressor pulley bearings AND the crankshaft (front main) bearing. The more of the pulley that the belt touches (more wrap), the slower the belt will wear (because there's more surface area to transmit the friction/torque). But the tighter the bend (smaller pulley), the faster the belt's internal fibers will break. That's why serpentine belts are so much better: their cross-section is thinner, allowing them to bend more-easily without breaking (also allowing them to bend backward via idlers to give more wrap angle on each pulley), and they have more surface area to contact the pulleys without collapsing (a wide thin rubber belt can't support itself in a single V pulley). The point is: you'll probably be changing that belt SLIGHTLY more-often if you use the smaller pulley. Thanks Steve, I didn't think there was but never hurts to ask. I do under stand about needing a tighter belt and that it puts more strain on all the bearing of what it passes over. As for wear not a big deal as I don't for see putting a lot of miles on the truck, 30 miles each way to work and will not be using it everyday. Beside if I hear any thing strange I will be all over the truck as I am to my DD Dodge, to find what the cause is. Thanks again. Dave ----

Sorry I don't have one but when I was looking for one for my 81 with a 300 & AC that no one makes one for, I looked at LMC and NPD. With a lot of measuring of my radiator, what Gary posted in the cooling / radiator area and what NPD listed size for some parts I was able to figure that one for a newer truck would fit. I only had to trim about 1/8" off each side and it fit like a glove. So if you cant find one as a direct bolt up may need to do what I did. BTW was it a bad motor mount that made the motor move to take out the shroud? Dave ----

Low range baby low range! That is how you learn. If everything went as it should have what would you have learned? When I was in school for computer repair we all had to build our own computers to then use for the rest of the class. About 80% would not boot up so we as a class had to find out why. Turned out bad RAM and once we had good RAM they all worked. Point is if we did not have that happen we would have never known how to trouble shoot a pc not booting up. I like good old turbo mufflers they have a nice deep sound to them. Even had 1 on a L6 with a header (6-3-2 with a Y pipe to 1) and that sounded good also. You did good hope you are out test driving this truck. Dave ----

I have to watch what I put down the sink drain as it goes to a gray water well and can seep into the ground water well that we use to water the garden and fill out side dog water dishes. Even being on the other end of 4 acres I don't want to take the chance. It can only be done when the wife is not home as it would have to be in the house, no water in my garage and that is closer to the water well, only 100 feet away. I had 5 gal of Zep purple industrial degreaser, vary HD stuff, cut a water. In is in a normal parts washer you would get at say Northern Tool with a pump and lid, not air tight by any means. Does a great job removing grease and I do rinse with water, rain water in a bucket with a lid so dogs cant get to it. I also wear heavy rubber gloves that go almost to the elbow. I have not used it in maybe 6+ months and it gets really hot in the garage, why I don't do much work in there during the summer. When I was setting up the garage, blue with red top used as a table here LOL Now that it is empty I can clean the mud out of the bottom, oh joy ...... NOT! Everything was washed, checked, painted before going back on the truck so a lot of grease & dirt. I should then pull the drain plug and install a valve so I can drain, clean the bottom, filter the mix and store the mixture when not going to use it. Now to get out to the garage to see what bolts I need from the hardware store. Dave ----